NEW GARDEN — Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan has cited New Garden Police Chief Gerald Simpson for efforts to pass the state’s new anti-gang recruitment law.

The law, signed by Gov. Tom Corbett last month, outlaws the recruitment of new members to criminal street gangs and enhances penalties on various crimes committed by gang members.

Hogan told supervisors at their meeting Nov. 5 that while the story was set in motion with the stabbing deaths of Cuahuctemoc Bedolla and Jose Rodriguez last winter, it was Simpson who had approached him with the idea for the law.

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Twelve individuals ranging in age from 16 to 20 were arrested in the wake of those stabbings, and numerous additional investigations were launched and are still ongoing.

“That was a huge achievement, and most chiefs would have been happy,” Hogan said. “But your chief wasn’t satisfied. Chief Simpson saw that you can’t just arrest away a problem like this.”

Hogan said Simpson’s goal was to discourage gangs from coming to New Garden and recruiting their new members in the first place.

“To stop the gangs from building in places like New Garden,” Hogan said.

Hogan said the bill was streamlined into law with the assistance of state Sen. Dominic Pileggi, R-9th of Chester, who told him in few words that he would work to push the bill through.

The law outlines specific punishments for strong-arm and intimidation tactics used by gang members when attempting to recruit new gang members, with a rolling scale of punishments that heightens if they are committed against a juvenile.

Hogan said that when they were developing the legislation, he and Simpson looked at gang laws from around the country to create something that was concise and tight.

Once it was passed in the senate, Hogan said he was immediately contacted by district attorneys from across the state asking why something like this had not already been in place decades ago.

“Because of your chief, we now stand here less than a year later, with brand-new legislation signed into law by the governor,” he said.

Simpson said that he was humbled by the gesture and said that the arrests would not have happened without the efforts of the team of officers and investigators who worked diligently to solve the case.

“Everybody in this room plays a part in our policing team, whether you recognize that or not, and while Mr. Hogan is giving me a considerable amount of credit here, I feel but a small piece in the grand puzzle,” Simpson said.

Hogan presented Simpson with a district attorney’s commendation for his outstanding work in proposing the state’s first anti-gang legislation.